Bilal in Inglewood: Spicy and Distinctive Pakistani Grub with the Best Tamarind Sauce

I love me some spicy Pakistani food. Bilal in Inglewood delivered. I didn't love everything but there was a lot I did. My favorite item was, strangely, the tamarind chutney. This is particularly noteworthy because I don't even like tamarind because I'm more of a cilantro chutney person (see below) who likes spicy over sweet. But this tamarind was something else. It wasn't overly sweet and it was clearly made on the premises rather than bottled(random trivia: I just learned that Worcestershire sauce has tamarind).

Those veggie samosas were light and airy despite being deep-fried. Interchangeably drizzled with some of that refreshing cilantro chutney and dipped in some seriously good tamarind, they were a winning appetizer.

We also got the qeema naan that came stuffed with ground beef and garlic naan. The qeema naan was ok but was a lot better drenched in the lovely tamarind. The garlic naan was not good. It was far too dry.

I couldn't resist having my old standby, saag paneer, and it didn't disappoint. It was spicy and soft. The best part? The seared cheese cubes that were browned on all sides -- a rare treat that you don't see a lot in other Indian restaurants -- or at least the ones I've frequented. It's incredible how that small detail could make such a big difference in the flavor and texture. Just wonderful.


We also got classic Pakistani dishes like chapli kabab, which were deep fried patties of ground beef, onions, tomatoes and cilantro, and balti chicken, white meat chicken stir fried with tomatoes, garlic, onions and cilantro. The former was a tad greasy and the latter was very spicy and spot on.

The flavors of the patty were good but I couldn't get past the greasiness. Unlike the samosa that was also deep fried but super light, these weighed too heavily on your fork and you could see the grease oozing every time you tried to slice a piece off. I just wanted to take a paper towel and squeeze the oil out of that baby.

The chicken was oily too but the grease here helped to lubricate the ingredients in the mix like a sauce so I just let the basmati rice soak it all up. The fresh jalapeno pieces definitely gave this dish a kick. I like.

This chicken was a tad dry too but paired with some plain yogurt tempered the dryness.

We wrapped up our meal with qulfi, pistachio-flavored Pakistani ice cream with crushed pieces of pistachio. They usually sell them as ice cream bars but our server generously cut it up into small cubes for easier consumption. The ice cream was refreshing and I liked the nut pieces. The only comment is that I would have liked a stronger pistachio flavor.

Parking was easy and it doesn't seem to get too crowded so it was nice.